Okay, enough with the hand turkeys. There are plenty of other activities you can do for Thanksgiving. Here are some ideas from Minds in Bloom: You can give your students Thanksgiving Analogies. You can ask them some fun Thanksgiving Would You Rather Questions. You can ask creative What Are You Thankful for Questions. Here are four Thanksgiving Brainteasers. Students could also make a Really

Teaching Idioms? I know I’m preaching to the choir when I say that idioms are more fun than a barrel of monkeys. There is a boatload of idioms at GoEnglish. Beyond going over the literal meaning of such phrases as, “It’s raining cats and dogs,” there are many other out-of-this-world things to try. They are the cat’s pajamas, so give them a whirl!

There are over 50 homophone mistakes in this story. Can your students find them all? Tony decided two make a Valentine’s pitcher four his mother. He got out a clean, white peace of paper. Than, he got out his crayons and started to color. He drew his hole family. Then, he maid a yellow son in the blew sky. When he was done, Tony rote, “Eye

This is a good beginning grid-style logic puzzle to use with your students. If your students have never solved this kind of problem, then you might want to do it together as a class. If you are unfamiliar with this format, here is a good tutorial. You can also get this Valentine’s Day Logic Puzzle for free in worksheet form (along with another critical thinking

Hopefully, you’ve got dictionaries, maybe even a class set. They are, of course, great for looking up words and you will use them to teach dictionary skills, but there are also other great things you can do with these rather large volumes of words. Here are just a few ideas: Send your students on a Dictionary Scavenger Hunt. You can make one up yourself, or get

Multiplication problems are hiding all around the classroom, just waiting to be discovered by your students. Next time your class is feeling restless, and you just can’t bear to make them do another set of math problems, give everyone a clipboard (or every pair–this would be a terrific activity to do with a partner) and challenge them to find and solve as many multiplication problems

Is your child a budding artist? Does she love science? Is he always building things? How about putting together a kit full of the things your child loves best? Of course, you could buy one, but if you have the time (and the money – a lot of little things can add up fast!), then it can be better to make one yourself. One problem

Here is a fun drawing activity to help kids analyze and improve how they communicate when giving directions.Pair kids up. Give them each clipboards, paper, and colored pencils or crayons. Then have the pairs sit back-to-back. Tell the pairs that they will each be drawing a picture. The goal of the activity is to make their pictures as similar as possible. Begin by having one

Yes, you have a portable DVD player (your vehicle may have even come with one), and yes, your kids have a wide array of handheld video games. And yes, making use of these devices ensures a quiet and peaceful ride. It also ensures that your kids’ brains will be on autopilot and that no interaction of any depth will take place. The alternative? Make a

Remember this book? It first came out in 1990 and inspired countless teachers to have their students make their own Really Long Lists of things to be happy about. That is a great idea for several reasons: Keeping a Really Long List over time will result in many different entries – ones that would not have come up if the list was shorter. Kids love

You can have a lot of spun with foonerisms. Kids love to stead rories with spoonerisms. They are also a wood gray to get kids to look at wow hords are put together. A spoonerism is made when the initial sounds of two words in a phrase are switched. A great way to introduce a unit on spoonerisms is to read Shel Silverstein’s last book

You are at a restaurant waiting for the food to come, and your kids are…shall we say, a little squirrely. Here are some games to play to keep their hands and their minds busy! Memory Quiz Make a grouping of 7-8 objects from the table: sugar packets, silver wear, salt shaker, etc. Give the other players 10 or so seconds to look at it.

I found this great Heart Maps project at Creative Literacy. I love this project because: It is such a clear, graphic representation of what is truly important to the artist. There is so much room for creativity – what a great display they would make! Pretty much any age child can do this. In fact, it would be neat to see the same child do

mail ~ shoe ~ lunch What do these three words have in common? TriBonds or, as it is sometimes called, the Game of Threes is yet another way to practice higher level thinking. Finding the common link that joins three words, that on first glance seem to have nothing in common, requires analysis and deductive reasoning. Just another way to help children learn to think

This is a great activity for flexible thinking, as kids must let go of their own ideas, to some extent, and work with their classmates’ ideas. It is also great for practicing beginning, middle, end. It is a good one to try when you are between units or when your kids are a little squirrely. What to do: Have each student choose a

Here is a fun game for practicing symmetry. The game can be played in pairs or as a whole class, and it’s based on the game Battleship. Each player uses a grid to create a symmetrical pattern. An 8×8 grid works well. You can have students make their own grids using graph paper or you can download the game here for free. Tips for